an open-source thought experiment in psychedelic law and policy

NJ township bans medical marijuana dispensaries

I posted previously about an interesting variation in the federalism problem which state medical cannabis laws create. State medical cannabis laws are an end-run around federal drug control policy, A/K/A prohibition. However, even when the states legalize therapeutic uses of cannabis, the localities can use their powers to ban cannabis distribution systems. Upper Freehold NJ has now banned medical cannabis dispensaries.

Would the localities also ban home cultivation by individuals and caregivers? The New Jersey and New York statutes do not permit individual cultivation; I believe that is why there is a bottle-neck in NJ, i.e. there is a medical cannabis law on the books but patients cannot get legal access since only corporate entities can cultivate it – and the state thwarted licensing any entities as long as it could. The lack of permission for patients to grow their own meant – no legal access to cannabis at all.

One of the common arguments against medical cannabis cultivation is that they create crime. If the objection is that a large grow-and-sale operation known to the public will be a magnet for crime as miscreants try to break in and steal the crop/merchandise, then perhaps private, undisclosed cultivation by patients or their caregivers would be a solution, except that private cultivation in a home – presumably without security guards and serious security systems – would present an even more tempting target, e.g. for potentially violent home invasion.